


Unless?

by leetv



Category: Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (Cartoon)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-07
Updated: 2020-11-07
Packaged: 2021-03-08 19:28:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,546
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27441949
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/leetv/pseuds/leetv
Summary: The intervening events between Cassandra's "Unless?" in Rapunzel's Return and her emerging from the House of Yesterday's Tomorrow door in Rapunzeltopia.
Comments: 5
Kudos: 24





	Unless?

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first-ever fanfic! I watched Tangled: The Series recently and fell in love with Cass's character, so I was inspired to write a little something for her. I'm still learning how to navigate this site, but I hope you guys enjoy.

Cass studied the diminutive girl before her: cerulean features arranged in a friendly disposition, placid demeanor concealing boundless secrets, spectral body emanating a mystic air. The House of Yesterday’s Tomorrow reveled in the illusory—though her warnings fell on deaf ears, Cass _knew_ the all-too-convenient shelter would be a sham—but the girl before her posed no outward threat. Trying to catch any artifice would be an exercise in futility.  
  
Dewy-eyed, the ghost girl waited for a response, betraying no sign of ill-intention. No doubt there was guile at play—how the seemingly innocuous girl prodded at Cass’s most tightly-guarded insecurity, Cass had no idea—but to hell with that. The girl offered what Cass had coveted for so long. _She could take the pain away._  
  
“Unless?”  
  
The girl chuckled—cordial, but with an undercurrent of depravity. “Unless, Cassandra, _you_ take the Moonstone.”  
  
Cass lurched backward, unsheathing her sword almost on instinct. She leveled the blade at the girl’s neck. “If you think I’d betray my best friend so easily, you’ve got the wrong impression of me.”  
  
The girl waved the weapon away, lips drawn into a smile. “Betray? Oh, no. Think of it as… taking what’s yours.”  
  
“The Moonstone is Rapunzel’s destiny.”  
  
“And what makes you so sure about that?” was the response. “Rapunzel already possesses the Sundrop. Don’t you think it’s a bit greedy that she wants _more_ power? Why shouldn’t someone else get the chance? Why shouldn’t _you_ get the chance to fulfill your own destiny? You’re surely tired of playing second fiddle.”  
  
“I… that’s not—that’s…” Cass frowned. “What do you mean, my ‘own destiny’?”  
  
“I mean, Cassandra, that you are Gothel’s true daughter,” said the ghost girl. “The Moonstone is your destiny, not Rapunzel’s. She’s taking that from you—just like she’s taken everything else.”  
  
Cass’s eyes widened. She tried to cling onto her flinty composure, but anger soon took the reins, imbuing Cass's voice with a desperate venom. “Why should I trust you?”  
  
“You shouldn’t,” the girl said flatly. “I am looking out for my own interest; you are merely a tool I need to use to get there.”  
  
Cass glowered, once again leveling her sword at the girl’s neck and piercing her incorporeal skin with its tip. “Speak carefully.”  
  
The girl smirked. “But our interests align perfectly, wouldn’t you say? I see no reason why the both of us can’t get what we want. You fulfill your destiny, and I achieve my own goal. An alliance is only natural.” The girl extended her arm, lacing her fingers around Cass’s charred hand. “Rapunzel has hurt you, Cassandra. Let me help make things right.”  
  
Cass hesitated. The girl managed—through cunning, surely—to strike where Cass’s armor was porous. Latent rage festered from the wounds, exposing itself to the light for the first time. Did Rapunzel deserve to bask in the sunlight simply by virtue of being born a princess? Was Cass fated to have all her achievements eclipsed by those more fortunate than she? For all her life, strings controlled Cass’s every movement, tethering her to servitude—but now scissors were in reach. The girl had ulterior motives, yes, _but did Cass care?_  
  
No, she didn’t. It was time for Cass to bring the eclipse.  
  
“Fine, I’ll consider.” Cass brandished her sword. “But if you even think of deceiving me, I won’t hesitate to cut you down.”  
  
“You are making the right choice, Cassandra,” said the girl. “It is well past time you take what’s yours and fulfill your destiny.”  
  
Cass tilted her head down, conflict plain in her scrunched up eyes. “I hope you’re right.”  
  
Having no interest in continuing the conversation, Cass turned herself toward the grove behind her. Above, the moon hung low in the sky, its wan illumination the sole opposition against absolute darkness. The towering trees, washed in the deep blue of the night, did little to ease the tension.  
  
Like a memory just out of reach, an uncanny familiarity permeated the forest. Cass's surroundings—once her backyard—seemed ethereal, yet tangible. Tree boughs sculpted for climbing, bushes ripe for hide-and-seek games, a glade formed for play-fighting—all experiences stolen by Rapunzel. The princess’s shadow had throttled Cass for much longer than she’d realized, starting from when her _own mother_ abandoned her for Rapunzel.  
  
Cass plunged into the deepest trenches of her mind, hunting for vestiges of her former life. All she could clutch, however, were faint impressions, rattling about in an otherwise empty space. Flashes of a music-box, of Gothel, and of a toy sword flickered in Cass’s mind’s eye; fleeting glimpses of a life stolen.  
  
A sudden flare of blue jerked Cass out of her reverie, and she wheeled around to find that the mysterious girl had vanished into the night. Cass narrowed her eyes, but cursory inspections of her surroundings yielded no hiding ghost girls. She was gone.  
  
Left alone, the rage-ridden haze soon dissipated, allowing Cass to gather her wit. _What did she just do?_  
  
Suddenly bludgeoned by reality, Cass slumped to the ground and cupped her head in her hands. She’d considered—no, she’d _agreed to_ —betraying Raps. That specter had pried open Cass’s heart, planting hate and anger within it. She’d preyed upon Cass’s insecurities, goading her into making a hasty decision.  
  
But it was, ultimately, Cass’s decision.  
  
Trudging through overgrown weeds, Cass made her way back to her childhood home. The Royal Guard, along with her younger self, had long since vacated, leaving behind an abandoned cottage.  
  
Cass kneeled before the doorway, reaching out toward the shattered music-box strewn along the entrance. As if she were a ghost, Cass’s fingers passed through the blue-and-gold scraps; a reminder that this moment in time had already passed, that the events set into motion could not be altered.  
  
Her four-year-old self, laden with trauma beyond her understanding, would soon embark on a new life: a life of waiting and waiting and waiting for something—anything—more. For an opportunity that would never come.  
  
Cass sighed, exerting great effort to keep tears at bay. Through no fault of her own, that starry-eyed girl—abandoned by her mother, adopted by a guard averse to showing affection—was fated to a life fraught with suffering. A life where, despite her best efforts, she’d be undervalued and overlooked at every corner. A life of bowing to those favored by the fortuity of luck.  
  
The past was immutable—certain and rigid. Cass could only grimace thinking how that girl would suffer for the next twenty years, as she knew the pain all too well.  
  
Shoulders slouched, Cass began to exit the cottage when, unbidden, Eugene's voice infiltrated her mind. _The best way to predict your future is to create your own._  
  
The quote’s source evaded Cass for a moment, but realization dawned as her mind tumbled through a speedrun of the caravan’s recent adventures. Eugene had told that to Rapunzel when she'd gotten herself hung up on curses. He insisted that only she had the power to control her future, dubious curses be damned. Cass was loath to admit it, but that egotistical halfwit had a point.  
  
The future. The future remained fickle; there was no reason why Cass couldn't bend it to her own desires. She couldn't grant her four-year-old self a better life, but she could promise her a better future. Perhaps, after all, there wouldn't be a sad ending to her story.  
  
All she needed to do was grab the Moonstone.  
  
But _Rapunzel_. They'd been rolling through foreign lands for close to a year now in pursuit of Rapunzel’s destiny. The chasm between Cass and the princess continued to widen, eroded by Rapunzel's maddening naivety, but snatching the Moonstone would set any hope of constructing a bridge aflame. Could Cass do that to her best friend, no matter how much they’ve grown apart?  
  
Mind locked in an interminable battle, Cass let out a soft grunt. According to her itinerary, the caravan had a few weeks left before it reached the Dark Kingdom, so coming to a decision now wasn't crucial. Either way, though, this would prove to be the most difficult decision of her life.  
  
As Cass stepped out of the cottage and into the forest, a door materialized before her, encased by a fractured slab of shell. It was the same door she entered through in the House of Yesterday’s Tomorrow—metallic frame, wooden panel, utilitarian design—but Cass was a far cry from the same person. She didn’t know if it were for better or worse, as recent events blurred those lines.  
  
Owl swooped down below, alighting on a nearby branch. Eyes narrowed, he shot a disapproving look at Cass, who returned the expression in kind.  
  
“Oh, come on. Like you wouldn’t do the same?” spat Cass, her tone betraying exhaustion. Owl didn’t relent.  
  
Cass pounded on the door until it flew open. As she crossed into her own realm, Cass scowled upon seeing her friends—or, perhaps, her former friends; Cass wasn’t sure—standing near the door’s exit, ready to meet her. A fiery rage seared Cass’s brittle heart, though her armor contained the inferno within its impregnable steel. At the moment, all Cass could do was plaster on a veneer and greet Rapunzel. The waiting would soon be over.


End file.
